Alex has spent his career at the intersection of technology, finance, and law as an attorney, advisor, and investor in financial services and other regulated industries. He has deep experience counseling banks on regulatory matters, innovative technology companies through their lifecycles, and investment firms in connection with the formation and management of private funds.

Prior to joining Unit, Alex was a partner at Mitchell Sandler, a boutique financial services-focused law firm, where he advised clients on a wide range of legislative, regulatory, transactional, and corporate governance matters. Before that, he was Managing Director and General Counsel at Fenway Summer Ventures, where he served on the investment committee and invested in and advised fintech and regtech companies. Earlier in his career, he worked as a bank regulatory attorney at a global law firm. He serves as a director on the board of FinRegLab, a nonprofit innovation center that tests new technologies and data to inform public policy and drive a more responsible and inclusive financial system.

Katherine Adkins took the helm as Affirm’s Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer July 1, 2021. Prior to that, Katherine was the VP, legal & bank strategy and DGC, legal platforms at Affirm. Katherine brings 25+ years of experience in the highly dynamic and changing worlds of automotive, financial services and fintech industries.. Adkins had previously served as Global Chief Legal Officer & Chief Compliance Officer with Toyota Financial Services (“TFS”), a publicly listed SEC registrant with $120B in assets, the largest non-bank financial institution in the US. Katherine earned her BA degree in economics and international studies from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and her JD from Loyola University of Los Angeles.

Orson Aguilar is the Founding President and CEO ofLatinoProsperity, a Latino-led national nonprofit organization dedicated toadvancing equitable policies at the national, state, and local levels to buildwealth within the Latinx community. Under his leadership, the organizationchampions economic policies that create opportunities and resources forwealth-building in the Latinx community. Orson envisions a thriving US economywhere Latinos can build intergenerational wealth.

Orson is a nationally recognized leader in economic justice and wealth-building for communities of color. He brings extensive experience in public affairs, policy development, advocacy, and community engagement, driven by a strong commitment to social justice. Throughout his career, he has held significant roles, including President of the Greenlining Institute, Executive Director at Unidos US Action Fund, and Senior Director at Oportun. In these positions, Orson has demonstrated effective leadership in crafting strategies, engaging stakeholders, and building coalitions to advance equitable policies and create opportunities for underserved communities.

Having grown up in the low-income neighborhood of Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, Orson possesses a firsthand understanding of the challenges faced by underserved populations. He has actively contributed to various corporate advisory boards and numerous boards of leading nonprofit organizations. He currently serves on several governing boards, including The East Los Angeles Community Corporation, Innovate Public Schools, and Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice.

Orson has received numerous leadership appointments, including positions on the Federal Reserve of San Francisco’s Community Advisory Council, Bank of America’s National Community Advisory Council, BBVA’s Community Advisory Council, JPMorgan Chase & Co Community Advisory Board, and PG&E’s Community Advisory Council. In 2019, Congresswoman Barbara Lee honored Orson with a Congressional Record Award, and Oakland’s Mayor declared April 26, 2019, as Orson Aguilar Day.

Orson has testified before Congress and has been quoted in numerous newsoutlets, including The Los Angeles Times, CNBC News, Our Weekly, Univision,Telemundo, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Chris serves as CEO, President and Director at Thread Bancorp, Inc. and Thread Bank. Previously, he was EVP/CFO of Franklin Financial Network and Franklin Synergy Bank, located in Franklin, TN. Before joining Franklin Financial Network and Franklin Synergy Bank, Chris served as SVP/CFO, Banking at FirstBank in Nashville, TN. Previously, he worked in the investment management and investment research industries, specializing in the banking sector while at Merrill Lynch & Co. and ISI Group, both based in New York City. Prior to working in the private sector, he served for over nine years as an Officer and pilot in the United States Air Force. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University with a major in Engineering and his Master of Business Administration from Auburn University, with a concentration in Finance.

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Adrian Boafo is a Maryland State Delegate representing the 23rd Legislative District. Recently, he was selected by his colleagues and appointed by Maryland Speaker Adrienne A. Jones to serve as Assistant Majority Leader.

His political journey began in 2015 as the first African-American student government association President at the University of Baltimore, the same year of the Freddie Gray killing and the start of the Black Lives Matter Movement. In 2016, Boafo began working on Capitol Hill on the press teams of then-House Democratic Caucus Chair Representative Xavier Becerra (CA-34) and Congressman Ruben Kihuen (NV-04). For three years, Adrian served as Campaign Manager of Hoyer for Congress, the Maryland political organization, and campaign representing Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD-05).

In 2019, Adrian was elected as the youngest Mayor Pro Tem of Bowie, Maryland, the state's 5th largest city. The son of a Maryland small business owner, Adrian's parents immigrated from Ghana at a time when democracy no longer existed in the nation. In Annapolis, Boafo has spent his time building bipartisan relationships and fighting for progressive causes. Adrian serves on the House Economic Matters Committee and serves as Chair of the Education Subcommittee in the Prince George's County Delegation.

Jonah Crane focuses on fintech, BaaS and embedded finance, digital assets, strategy and M&A, and policy & regulation.

Jonah helps clients develop business strategies, partnerships, and governance frameworks that will achieve their strategic goals and meet evolving regulatory expectations. Jonah serves a wide range of clients, including community and regional banks, fintech and embedded finance providers, and digital asset-related businesses. His client engagements include licensing, mergers and acquisitions, bank-fintech partnerships, and regulatory engagement. Jonah is a member of the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee as well as the Advisory Board of the Digital Dollar Project. He has also helped financial regulators around the world develop policy frameworks to facilitate innovation and financial inclusion. Jonah served as a Senior Advisor and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Treasury Department from 2013-2017. Prior to that, Jonah was an advisor to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer on financial regulatory policy, including the Dodd-Frank Act and the JOBS Act. Jonah was previously a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Milbank LLP in New York City.

Jonah received a BA in Politics from New York University and a JD from NYU School of Law, where he was an editor of the Journal of Legislation and Public Policy.

Co-Chair of Jenner & Block’s Consumer Law and Fintech and Crypto Assets Practices, Jeremy Creelan combines along record of litigating disputes with extensive regulatory investigations experience. He served as Special Counsel to the Governor in the administration of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, with a wide portfolio ranging from public ethics and election law to oversight over energy, transportation, and infrastructure project planning after Superstorm Sandy.

Jeremy has successfully represented clients in trials, domestic and international arbitrations, and appeals. His broad experience and winning track record in complex commercial litigation in financial services includes class action consumer fraud defense and investigations; securities; insurance and reinsurance disputes; federal and state election law matters; and intellectual property matters related to technology, including IT outsourcing disputes.

He helps clients navigate state and federal regulatory investigations, particularly in financial services. His public service in New York State government and deep policy interests help to provide both creative solutions and nuanced advocacy in the face of regulatory scrutiny.

Jeremy first joined Jenner & Block in 2006, after serving as Deputy Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. At the Brennan Center, he developed and prosecuted numerous high-profile election law cases to protect voters’ rights. He also co-authored a landmark, comprehensive study of New York State's legislative process and, as an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Law, taught an election law seminar. He continues to litigate voting rights and election law cases.

Itai is the CEO and co-founder of Unit (www.unit.co), a leading financial infrastructure platform. Itai started Unit in 2020 to power modern financial experiences.
 
With over 10+ years of experience as a fintech operator, Itai has been building fintech companies since 2008 as a passionate founder, investor, and mentor. Prior to Unit, he was the co-founder and VP of Product at Leverate where he led the company’s international expansion. Itai is also an active investor and mentor and has advised entrepreneurs at 500 Startups and Barclays Techstars (Israel), among others.  

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Senator Christopher J. Dodd is a member of the firm's Legislative & Public Policy group. His practice focuses on helping clients navigate the complex issues around numerous industries, including financial services, media and entertainment, intellectual property and data privacy, telecommunications, healthcare, national security, trade, and sovereigns. With more than three decades of experience on Capitol Hill, Senator Dodd brings strategic counsel to those seeking to address governmental, political, and business challenges.

Senator Dodd joined the firm after a long and distinguished career in the United States Senate, representing the State of Connecticut. He also served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Connecticut's 2nd District. During his tenure as Senator, he was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and served on the Committees on Foreign Relations and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, among others. He was a principal author of numerous bills that became law, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Child Care Act, and the Help America Vote Act, among others, and he was deeply involved in the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

After leaving government service in 2011, Senator Dodd joined the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. During his seven-year tenure, he helped move MPAA into the digital age, including spearheading content protection and anti-piracy initiatives, and expanding the access of U.S. films and television programs to China and other international markets. He also established a coalition of film and television content creators, ACE (Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment), which includes the MPAA studios, Netflix, Amazon and others, to cooperate on the common issue of protecting intellectual property. He stepped down from the MPAA on January 1, 2018.

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Eric J. Ellman is an experienced and skilled government affairs and public policy executive with a demonstrated track record of navigating the political headwinds for the consumer data industry.

Eric J. Ellman spent over 25 years at the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) in Washington, D.C., most recently serving as Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Legal Affairs. During his tenure, Eric led the government affairs program, ran the legal department, and participated in the management of the association.

Eric’s work for CDIA was highlighted on the front page of the USA Today Money section in June 2007. In that article, he was called a “warrior” who is “always well-prepared for battle”. Eric was also a featured guest on several podcasts and has spoken at conferences on almost every continent. Eric has testified over 100 times before state legislative committees and appeared in many national and local media stories, including the New York Times and Politico.

Before joining CDIA, Eric worked for the Direct Selling Association (DSA) from 1992 - 1997.

Eric, a native New Yorker, has been involved in government, public service, and politics for most of his life. In 1989, he became the youngest elected official in Maryland when he was elected to the Friendship Heights Village Council, and he went on to serve four terms on that council. Eric made an unsuccessful run for the Maryland state legislature in1994. 

From 2006 to 2011, Eric served on the Board of Directors of Wonders Child Care, one of the largest non-profit childcare organizations in the DC metro area. Eric is a member of the Board of the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Greater Washington, a nonprofit providing financial assistance to people in need, and sits on the Patient and Family Advisory Committee at Suburban Hospital/Hopkins Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. Eric served on the Board of Directors of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Maryland and was the Vice Chair of the Board of Credit Builders Alliance, an organization dedicated to financial empowerment.

Eric has a B.S. from American University in Washington, D.C. and a law degree from the University of Baltimore.  Eric is a member of the bars of Maryland and Pennsylvania and he CIPP/US certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

Marc Franson is a partner in the Banking and Financial Services Department and Practice Group Leader of the Bank Corporate Group. He represents financial institutions, finance companies, retailers, other creditors and brokers on an array of financial services matters including regulatory applications, consumer credit transactions, deposit products, bank mergers and acquisitions, licensing, regulatory issues and compliance, sale of non-deposit products, technology contracting, payment processing, portfolio acquisitions/divestitures, fair lending and privacy matters, Internet banking, stored value products and marketplace (P2P) lending. He also represents clients in conjunction with legislative and trade association activities.

Marc counsels interstate and intrastate lenders on all aspects of a variety of secured and unsecured consumer lending programs including credit card, mortgage, home equity, automobile and other installment credit. He has served as counsel in several major bank acquisitions and portfolio sale transactions, assisted clients with federal and state regulatory matters, licensing applications and proceedings, in the development of compliance programs, compliance training and preparation for and assistance with regulatory compliance examinations. This includes advice on FCRA, community reinvestment, and fair lending programs.

Marc was engaged in a unique credit card transaction involving the joint venture of two major banks and a credit card industry consultant involving the establishment and chartering of a credit card bank, the sale of $2 billion of credit card receivables, along with a contemporaneous securitization and other financing transactions. He also advises clients' participation in various roles in receivable securitization programs. His representation of clients includes the areas of cash management services, electronic funds transfers, merchant credit card and payment processing, outsourcing, data processing and servicing arrangements.

Madeline is VP of Partnership Strategy at Alloy Labs, where she leverages her deep expertise in business modeling to facilitate strategic partnerships within the membership. She is passionate about the potential for value creation in the banking industry when financial institutions pursue differentiating competitive advantage. To that end, she works alongside Alloy Lab’s members to contextualize insights emerging from the alliance activities and curate partnership opportunities.

Prior to joining Alloy Labs Madeline led strategy for Crowe LLP’s financial services consulting practice. She facilitated strategic planning for bank clients, leaning on her deep expertise in design thinking. Madeline also applied these frameworks in her consulting to Crowe’s partners, advising on practice strategy.

Prior to that, Madeline led new product development for Crowe’s credit solutions consulting practice. She has first-hand experience translating market insights into product vision, developing product prototypes, testing those prototypes, and iterating to find product market fit.

Madeline began her career designing software used by floorplan lenders throughout North America. This season put her shoulder to shoulder with credit analysts, underwriters, and commercial lenders to solve their most challenging operational problems.

Madeline holds a B.A. in Business / Economics from Wheaton College. Shecurrently resides in Minneapolis where she is an avid gardener.

Gilles Gade is Founder, President and CEO of Cross River, having served as Chairman of the company since its inception in 2008. Gilles’ vision is steering Cross River as an innovation-driven, state-chartered bank and technology infrastructure provider powering the future of financial services. He served as CFO of First Meridian Mortgage and was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Chela Technology Partners. Gilles began his career at Citicorp Venture Capital and went on to join Bear Sterns as a FIG Investment Banker and later to Barclays Capital as a Technology Investment Banker. He graduated from the MBA Institute IMIP (Groupe IPESUP) in Paris with a Masters of Science in International Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics. Gilles holds positions at various global charitable organizations and institutions and is a Nationally Registered active Paramedic.

As the chief payments executive for Federal Reserve Financial Services, Mark Gould is responsible for the Federal Reserve System’s full portfolio of retail payments, wholesale payments, instant payments, and cash services provided to financial institutions across the United States. Mark is based in San Francisco with diverse teams in each of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks, and he is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences around the world.

Mark has provided executive leadership to a range of Federal Reserve Bank and System functions at the intersection of payments, technology, strategy, and operations throughout his career. On the way to his current role, he previously served as CIO, COO, and interim CEO for the San Francisco Fed, and led the Fed’s national cash business.

Janet Hale, co-lead of FTI's Consumer Financial Services practice group, has extensive experience in the implementation of effective risk management structures, compliance with consumer laws and regulations, as well as remediation of regulatory enforcement. Ms. Hale is well experienced in governing high priority consumer finance regulatory engagements, including large scale consent order remediation efforts reportable to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Texas Department of Banking. These engagements included Servicemember Civil Relief Act (SCRA), Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) and Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) remediation, Fair Lending, as well as Safety and Soundness concerns. She advises on effective compliance management systems and consults on regulatory internal control processes. Her clients include financial institutions of all sizes, with a specialty towards Banking-as-a Service providers and fintechs, particularly in regard to Third Party Risk Management oversight, testing and remediation. Ms. Hale’s subject matter expertise includes consumer deposit and loan product laws and regulations, including mortgage origination and servicing, fair lending, and the Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA). In addition, Ms. Hale has extensive compliance and operational experience in enterprise risk management, regulatory exam supervision, regulatory change execution, and complaint review and trending analysis. She also headed efforts ensuring compliant banking platform software for an international financial technology firm.  

Prior to consulting, Ms. Hale held executive risk leadership positions with KeyBank, including Vice President, Compliance and Operational Risk Manager, as well as Senior Compliance and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Manager. At KeyBank, she instituted the bank’s Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) program and directed the compliance functions supporting consumer lending, credit cards, mortgage origination and servicing, collections, deposits, product development, and marketing. She was also a member of KeyBank’s Compliance RiskCommittee and Fair Lending Committee, and she chaired the corporation’s Flood Governance Committee. Ms. Hale began her over-25-year-career as an Examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) participating in safety and soundness as well as compliance examinations.

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Ms. Hale has been a speaker on several regulatory topics including Third Party Risk Management, FDPA, UDAAP, risk assessment processes, and regulatory examination preparation practices. Ms. Hale holds an M.B.A. from John Carroll University and a B.S. in Business Administration (Finance) from Miami University. She is also designated by the American Bankers Association as a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) and Certified Enterprise Risk Professional (CERP). Additionally, Ms. Hale was previously recognized by the Institute of Management Accountants as a Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

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Bradford Hardin is a trusted advisor to general counsels and senior executives. Clients call on him for help with their toughest problems—when regulatory issues, internal failures, or government controversies require deep experience, quick action, and tact. He has been recognized as a leading practitioner in The National Law Journal, Super Lawyers, and Law360.

Bradford's practice focuses on consumer financial services—whether advising on regulatory compliance and new product development or defending investigations of consumer products. He has defended large banks, credit unions, and fintech companies in CFPB investigations since the Bureau's inception and has extensive experience responding to inquiries by the FDIC, OCC, DOJ, and HUD, among others. He has also led sensitive internal investigations to successful, private resolutions.

Bradford and his team have provided legal support to some of the most innovative deposits, lending, card, payments, and fintech infrastructure projects in recent years. Clients have sought Bradford's counsel for his solutions-oriented approach to developing new products, overcoming regulatory barriers, and getting to market. He also connects clients with the firm at large across litigation, privacy, transactions, tax, IP, employment, and other areas. Bradford is a past recipient (2023) of the firm's Willard J. Wright Award, which recognizes a partner who has shown outstanding commitment to community and civic activity, and the immediate past chair of the firm's financial services practice group.

He is a frequent writer and speaker in traditional venues, online, and as a podcast guest. You can find his latest work on LinkedIn or X (formerly Twitter)@bradford_hardin

Education

J.D., University of Alabama School of Law, summa cum laude

B.S., Business Administration, Finance Concentration, University of South Alabama

Admitted to Practice

District of Columbia, 2010

U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit, 2011

U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 2013

U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 2010

U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, 2013

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 2010

U.S. District Court, Western District of Virginia, 2011

U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, 2012

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2017

Kiah Lau Haslett is the Banking & Fintech Editor of Bank Director. A self-professed bank nerd, she writes and speaks about how technology is impacting financial institutions. Other areas of focus include bank accounting policy, operations, strategy and trends in mergers and acquisitions. She was previously a financial institutions reporter at S&P Global Market Intelligence and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska.  

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A ninth-generation Arkansan, Congressman French Hill has represented Arkansas’s Second Congressional District since January 2015. He serves as the Vice Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and as Chairman of the new subcommittee tasked with overseeing all areas related to digital assets and financial technology. Additionally, he is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was also elected to the Republican Steering Committee for the 118th Congress, which determines committee assignments for Republican members of Congress.

Prior to his congressional service, Congressman Hill was founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Delta Trust & Banking Corporation. From 1989 to 1991, he also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Corporate Finance, where one of his key assignments was representing the U.S. as a negotiator in the historic bilateral talks with Japan known as the Structural Impediments Initiative (SII).

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Rep. Hill led the design of U.S. technical assistance to the emerging economies of eastern and central Europe in the areas of banking and securities. In 1991, at the age of 34, President Bush appointed Rep. Hill to be Executive Secretary to the President’s Economic Policy Council (EPC), where he coordinated all White House economic policy. For his leadership and service at the Treasury and the White House, Rep. Hill was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas Brady in January 1993. Prior to his Executive Branch Service, from 1982 until 1984, Rep. Hill served on the staff of then-U.S. Senator John Tower (R-TX), as well as on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs.

Throughout his career, Rep. Hill has been active in civic affairs. He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Little Rock and served as the 2013 chairman of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his long-time support of the Boy Scouts of America, the arts and humanities, tourism, and historic preservation in Arkansas. He is an avid outdoorsman.

Rep. Hill is a magna cum laude graduate in Economics from Vanderbilt University. He and his wife, Martha, have a daughter and a son. The Hill family resides in Little Rock.

As Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Winnow Solutions, LLC, Chris Hilliard leads a team of legal, compliance, and technology professionals who are transforming the way financial institutions and lenders navigate state and federal regulatory requirements. His superpower lies in his ability to leverage over two decades of expertise in regulatory compliance and banking to transform complex legal landscapes into manageable, technology-driven solutions. As CEO of Winnow, he combines his deep industry knowledge with a passion for innovation, leading a team that simplifies regulatory compliance and navigation for financial institutions through tailored, dynamic compliance tools and products.
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Chris has over 20 years of industry experience in consumer, commercial, and residential mortgage lending and general banking, with extensive expertise in regulatory compliance, BSA/AML, internal audit, licensing, and legal functions. He is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) and a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP), as well as a California Licensed Life, Accident & Health Agent. He has held executive, senior management, and mid-level management positions at major financial institutions and lenders, where he managed all aspects of compliance, risk, and litigation, as well as product development, management, and design.    

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Brian brings a rare combination of risk and growth strategy expertise. At Discover, he served as Chief Risk Officer as well as head of Cardmember Marketing and Digital Bank, driving significant transformations across Compliance, Information Security, Enterprise Risk Management, and Marketing. In addition, he served as CEO of HSBC’s Credit Card business, as a Board member for Risk Management Association, and as a Consumer Advisory Board member for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He currently advises financial services companies of all sizes on technology, growth, and risk strategy.

Alex Johnson is the founder of Fintech Takes, a media brand with 30,000+ subscribers that focuses on the intersection of financial services, technology, and public policy. Alex has more than 20 years of experience in financial services, with stops at Zoot Enterprises, FICO, and Cornerstone Advisors.

Laura Kornhauser is the Co-founder and CEO of Stratyfy, a technology company empowering financial institutions with transparent, easy-to-use AI solutions that drive smarter, more informed risk-based decisions. Recognized as one of American Banker’s Most Influential Women in Fintech for 2024, Laura is a leading voice in the fintech space, particularly around the responsible use of AI in financial services.

A thought leader on bias mitigation and fairness in automated decision-making, Laura frequently speaks on the intersection of AI and finance. She is a founding member of MoreThanFair, a research participant in the groundbreaking study on fairness in machine learning with FinReg Lab and Stanford University, and an expert contributor for MIT’s AI Policy Forum. Most recently, she joined the inaugural Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) Artificial Intelligence Advisory Group, where she supports members in navigating legal, policy, and supervisory challenges related to AI.

Before founding Stratyfy, Laura spent 12 years at JP Morgan as an Executive Director. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BSE in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University.

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Pankaj has over 30 years of experience in consumer financial services and risk management. He served as the Chief Risk Officer for consumer businesses at GE Money, UK, and was one of the pioneers in establishing GE’s Risk Analytics Center of Excellence in 1998.Pankaj is a recognized speaker at leading global forums, offering nuanced perspectives on the innovations shaping the future of risk management. He founded Scienaptic in 2014, based on these very innovations. Through innovative AI tools, Scienaptic is tackling the problem of credit expansion across the globe. More than 145 financial institutions across banks, credit unions, fintech, and other lenders use its platform to constantly improve the quality of underwriting decisions. This enables them to say ‘yes’ to borrowers more often and faster.

A global entrepreneur and an immigrant himself, Magnus Larsson has led various ventures focused on creating innovative tech solutions to connect people around the world. His most recent venture, MAJORITY, is an all-in-one mobile banking app and community membership for migrants in the US. Founded in 2019, MAJORITY raised its first venture capital funding in June of2021 and has raised over $110M to date. Membership registration is open to all immigrants in the US, with or without a Social Security number, allowing many to have a checking account for the first time in their lives. MAJORITY is the leader in mobile banking for migrants in America, revolutionizing the traditional banking industry and paving the way for financial inclusivity.

Ravi Loganathan is the President of Sonar, Sardine's frauddata sharing consortium. Prior to Sardine, Ravi was a principal member of thefounding team at Early Warning Services (EWS) and served as the company's ChiefData Officer for nearly 8 years. He also had an extensive career at Bank ofAmerica, serving as Senior Vice President of Compliance and Operational Riskfor 11 years. Ravi holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy and Finance fromthe University of Chicago, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science andEconomics from Temple University.

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Jeremy Mandell is the co-chair of Morrison Foerster's Financial Services Group. Jeremy advises bank, non-bank, and fintech clients on financial services regulatory issues, including issues arising under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. He has particular experience working on issues related to interbank and emerging payments  systems, including blockchain-based payment solutions and stablecoin  platforms. He has counseled clients with award-winning apps and innovative products and services on complex issues, bringing a practical, broad-market perspective to product development, ongoing compliance needs, and regulatory engagement.

Jelena McWilliams is Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office and Head of the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) Practice. She is a former Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Ms. McWilliams focuses her practice on advising public and private companies, financial institutions, fintechs, and early-stage and venture companies on regulatory and corporate matters, as well as on mergers and acquisitions, IPO and other capital markets transactions.

Georgina is the founder of SOLO, a collaborative credit bureau that transforms how first party data is collected, verified, and activated for banks and lenders. Prior to SOLO, Georgina began her career as a researcher and compliance director at the G7 & G20 Information Centre. She then trained as a data scientist and investigative analyst to develop algorithms that detect illicit activity on the dark web. In 2020, Georgina founded Zivmi, Egypt's first cross-border payments app, in partnership with the National Bank of Egypt, providing invoice factoring to unbanked digital freelancers. She subsequently exited the venture in its entirety to the National Bank. Through her work with unbanked freelancers at Zivmi, Georgina recognized the limitations of traditional credit assessment which led to the creation of SOLO and her advocacy for modern solutions in credit and lending.

Jason Mikula is the Head of Industry Strategy, Banking &Fintech, at next-gen decision platform Taktile and the publisher of FintechBusiness Weekly, a newsletter going beyond the headlines to analyze thetechnology, regulatory, and business model trends driving the rapidly evolvingfinancial services ecosystem. He also advises and consults for and invests inearly stage startups. Previously, he spent over a decade building and scalingconsumer finance businesses, including at Enova, LendUp, and Goldman Sachs.

Brandon Milhorn is president and chief executive officer of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, the national association representing state financial regulators and the leading advocate for advancing the system of state financial supervision. He was named president and CEO in December 2023 by the CSBS Board of Directors. In this capacity, Mr. Milhorn leads the professional staff at CSBS in assisting state regulators with developing policy; engaging with their federal counterparts, the Administration and Congress; researching industry trends; identifying best practices; and conducting professional development.

Mr. Milhorn previously held leadership roles at the FDIC, serving as deputy toFDIC Vice Chairman Travis Hill and chief of staff and deputy to FDIC ChairmanJelena McWilliams. Before the FDIC, he spent seven years in the private sectorwith Raytheon and over a decade of service as counsel for the Senate Committeeon Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Senate Select Committee onIntelligence, and the CIA. He began his career with two prominent U.S. Courtclerkships.

Mr. Milhorn holds a B.S. in economics from East Tennessee State University anda J.D. from Cornell Law School.

Neha Narkhede is an Indian American technology entrepreneur, founder & CEO of Oscilar, the co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer, and currently board member of Confluent (NASDAQ: CFLT). As a software engineer at LinkedIn, she helped develop the opensource messaging system Apache Kafka now used by more than 80% of the Fortune500. In 2014, she co-founded Confluent, which helps organizations process large amounts of data to create transformative real-time products. Neha has been listed as one of America’s Top Self-Made Women by Forbes, Forbes’s Top 50 Women In Tech, MIT Tech Review’s Innovators under 35 and Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People. Neha has a Masters in Computer Science degree from Georgia Tech and today advises and invests in numerous technology startups.

Brittany Pettersen was bornin Colorado and grew up in Jefferson County, the community she is now proud torepresent in Congress. She served in the Colorado state legislature for adecade before being elected in 2022 to represent Colorado’s Seventh CongressionalDistrict in the United States House of Representatives. She is the first womanto represent this district, which encompasses Jefferson, Broomfield, Lake,Park, Teller, Chaffee, Fremont, and Custer counties. Representative Pettersenis a member of the House Financial Services Committee where she serves on theSubcommittee on Housing and Insurance and as the Vice Ranking Member of theSubcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International FinancialInstitutions.

Before coming to Congress, Rep. Pettersen helped pass legislation in Colorado to lower health care costs, address the opioid epidemic, protect reproductive health care, and increase access to affordable childcare. She is now bringing this proven record to Washington and working to expand these policies nationwide. Rep. Pettersen is leading the fight to improve the nation’s mental health and substance use disorder treatment programs and crack down on drug trafficking, after seeing firsthand the devastating impacts of the opioid epidemic through her own mother’s decades-long struggle with addiction.

Through her position on the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Pettersen is working to increase consumer protections, improve housing affordability and accessibility, keep America at the cutting-edge of technological advances, and crack down on drug cartels and terrorist organizations utilizing financial institutions.

While facing many challenges as an at-risk youth, access to great public schools and teachers who believed in her helped Rep. Pettersen become the first in her family to graduate both high school and college. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Metropolitan State University of Denver by waiting tables to put herself through school. Growing up in the 7th District, this community gave Rep. Pettersen the opportunity to build a better life, and she has spent her whole career fighting to give every Coloradan that same chance.

Rep. Pettersen lives in Lakewood with her husband, Ian, their young son, Davis, and their rescue dog, Ollie.

As general counsel, Amy has overseen the company’s legal affairs since September 2022, playing a critical role in the company’s strategic initiatives while mitigating risk and ensuring compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations across the board. She also provides critical insight and guidance on regulatory considerations and requirements, cyber security, information security, litigation, risk management, and other areas.

Amy joined the company from Cross River Bank, where she served as associate general counsel since 2019 and provided legal expertise to a variety of business areas including credit cards, payments, banking services, banking-as-a-service (BaaS), payments-as-a-service (PaaS), marketplace lending, marijuana-related business opportunities, and digital assets (crypto). During her tenure, the company experienced rapid expansion, grew various business lines, and tripled its revenue and valuation. Prior to Cross River Bank, Amy held various legal counsel roles at Ubiquity Global Services, UniRush, and Fifth Third Bank.

Amy holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University and a B.A. in History from the University of Kentucky.

Jeanette serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Financial Institutions Policy, to which she was appointed by President Joe Biden. Before joining the  U.S. Department of the Treasury, Jeanette served as Deputy Commissioner of  Investor Protection at the California Department of Financial Protection and  Innovation, a role to which she was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom.  Earlier in her career, Jeanette served as Senior Counsel to Chairman Sherrod  Brown and Chairman Tim Johnson of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, as well as Senior Attorney at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Jeanette also developed and led the legal, compliance, enterprise risk management, and public policy functions at multiple financial technology companies, most recently at Gusto. Jeanette is an Obama USA Leader, Eisenhower Fellow, Marshall Memorial Fellow, Truman National Security Project Political Partner, United States-Spain Council Young Leader, American Council on Germany Young Leader, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs New Leader, and an invited member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, Pacific Council on International Policy, and the Bretton Woods Committee.

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Peter Renton is the CEO of Renton & Co, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in fintech media, events and thought leadership. He was formerly the co-founder and chairman of Fintech Nexus, a fintech media and events company that produced 31 large-scale events worldwide. The events business was sold to Fintech Meetup in 2023, and the media business was shut down in June 2024.

Peter has been writing about fintech since 2010, with over 2,500 articles published. He is the author and creator of the Fintech One-on-One Podcast, the first and longest running fintech interview series, recently crossing 500episodes. Over the last decade, Peter has conducted over 750 interviews and panel discussions and produced over 1,800 fintech newsletters.

On January 6th, 2015, Senator Marion Michael “Mike” Rounds was sworn into the United States Senate. Senator Rounds serves on five committees: Senate Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Indian Affairs; Veterans’ Affairs; and the Select Committee on Intelligence.

Rounds previously served as the 31st governor of South Dakota from 2003 – 2011, easily winning reelection in 2006. From 1991 to 2000, he was elected five times to the South Dakota State Senate. In1995, his colleagues selected him to serve as Senate Majority Leader, a position that he held for six years. During his time in state government, Rounds was committed to growing the economy, keeping taxes low and strengthening South Dakota families.

A lifelong South Dakotan, Senator Rounds was born in Huron, the eldest of 11 children. He earned abachelor’s degree in political science from South Dakota State University. In the private sector, Roundsbuilt a successful insurance and real estate business with offices throughout the state. He resides in FortPierre and is the proud parent of four grown children and 10 grandchildren.

Scott is the CEO of LendingClub, the leading digital marketplace bank in the U.S., which has helped more than 4 million Americans save billions of dollars since it was founded in2007.

Appointed CEO in 2016, he is responsible for leading 1,300+ employees to achieve the company’s vision to put members on a path to financial success, as the business evolves beyond its personal loan heritage to serve a broader set of customers’ needs by taking advantage of its technology and data-driven marketplace.

Scott joined LendingClub in 2010 and has been a driving force in the management and development of the organization. With executive roles as Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Operations Officer, and President, he helped steer the company through a prolonged period of triple-digit growth running up to its 2014 IPO, the largest U.S. tech IPO that year. Prior to LendingClub, Scott held leadership positions as the Chief Revenue Officer for publicly-traded eHealth Insurance, President of RedEnvelope, Inc., and SVP at the Home Shopping Network.

He holds a BA from Tufts University.

Susan Seaman is a financial services regulatory partner at Husch Blackwell LLP and is located in Columbus, Ohio. She routinely advises depository institutions and non-depository institutions (including Fintechs) on an array of federal and state laws that impact their credit, payment, and deposit offerings to consumers and small businesses. Susan has extensive background on managing multi-state compliance, federal bank preemption, bank-Fintech arrangements, point-of-sale financing (including BNPL), and credit cards. In particular, she enjoys helping clients bring financial products and services to market. Susan gained valuable experience working with business partners on product builds when she acted as a secondee for a global New York bank.

Susan is the chair of the Federal and State Trade Practices (UDAAP)Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Consumer Financial Services Committee and is a governing committee member of the Conference on Consumer Financial Law. She regularly speaks and writes on a variety of consumer financial services topics.

Laurie currently serves as Sr. Director, Associate General Counsel at Affirm. Laurie leads the Product, Regulatory and Innovation legal team to support Affirm's business partners in reinventing consumer finance by offering honest financial products to consumers while keeping up with ever-evolving regulatory requirements. Laurie joined Affirm after serving as an Attorney-Advisor at the CFPB in its Office of Supervision Policy. She has seen Affirm grow from tiny start-up to a publicly traded company during her 7.5 year tenure there. She is especially energized when able to help businesses in the consumer financial services industry create a better reality for consumers by "nerd-ing" out researching the law to find a way to use it to achieve the spirit of it.

Eric M. Sprink  serves as Chief Executive Officer of Coastal Community Bank and Coastal Financial Corporation. Coastal prides itself on being “un-bankey” and has  organically grown from less than $200 million in assets when Eric joined the  bank in 2006, to more than $3.8 billion today.
 
 Community is the bank’s middle name and also a way of doing business. We are openly changing the rules of what Banking means. In addition to meeting the  needs of local Coastal Community Bank (CCB) business clients, Coastal is  delivering Partner Banking or “Banking as a Service” to FinTech’s, capitalizing on the strong relationship culture built on top of a robust  compliance backbone through its wholesale banking division – CCBX.
 
 Because of the relationships the bank has built with FinTech’s, Eric is a frequent speaker and advocate for bank/Fintech partnerships. He has worked closely with a number of regulatory bodies as the banking industry evolves and faces disruption.
 
 In spite of living in the Pacific Northwest, Eric is a Tarheel and will happily share his thoughts on North Carolina sports. Active in community affairs, Eric is a past-chair of the Community Bankers of Washington and is involved with numerous local non-profits.    

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Julie Szudarek is the CEO of Self Financial, a credit building company that makes credit accessible to consumers with low or no credit. She has 20 years leading and scaling highly-regulated and mission-driven businesses. Julie was previously the CEO of online pharmacy Atida, growing it from a German-only business to serving 75 percent of the European market. She’s also held various leadership roles at Groupon, where she managed $2 billion in billings across 15 countries and was responsible for transforming its North American operations to a marketplace offering. Julie currently serves on the Board of Directors for Root, Inc.

Simon is one of fintech's most respected voices, providing unparalleled insights from over 20 years driving innovation. His popular Fintech Brainfood blog boasts 40k+ subscribers including top CEOs and VCs.

As a sought-after keynote speaker and advisor, Simon leverages his experiencepioneering mobile banking apps and leading digital transformation for globalbanks.Simon is a a regular industry commentator for media like BBC, CNBC andthe financial times

Trusted by the industry's biggest names, he provides guidance to regulators,financial institutions, and tech companies on strategically capitalizing onemerging trends in fintech, open finance, and AI.

Ryan Tracy is co-writer of Capitol Account, a daily newsletter on financial services policy that has become essential reading for top policy makers at federal agencies and in Congress, as well as by the lawyers, lobbyists, advocates and executives who are impacted by regulation. Ryan is a former reporter at The Wall Street Journal, where he spent 13 years writing about the intersection of business and Washington. His work spanned three presidential administrations and most recently focused on technology policy. He chronicled the government’s efforts to crack down on giant U.S. tech companies and wrote extensively about artificial intelligence, antitrust, privacy, and other issues. Before tech, he covered financial regulation, breaking news on banking agencies’ implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act. Ryan got his start reporting on local government at The Times of Trenton in his native New Jersey. He has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. You can contact him at rtracy@capitolaccountdc.com

Edward "Ed" Vincent has rich experience leading financial technology SaaS organizations, building services and analytics teams, defining and implementing content and product strategy, and innovating products in the insurance, capital markets, investment banking, private equity, and compliance segments. Ed’s more than 25 years of leadership and operating experience include incubating businesses, securing capital investment, leading through growth, transformation and scaling stages, and culminating in successful exits to both strategic and financial buyers. Prior to joining SRA Watchtower, Ed led services, support and client enablement functions as COO of StarCompliance. This followed multiple leadership roles within fintech, regtech and insurtech businesses, including at Shore Group Associates, Thomson Financial, and Vertafore. Ed is a CFA charter holder, Certified ScrumMaster and Product Owner, and has served as a Member of the Advisory Board for Edgeware Analytics. Ed holds a Masters of Business Administration from both the Columbia Business School and the London Business School. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, with both a Bachelor of Science in Economics, dual concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management, from the Wharton School, and a Bachelor of Applied Science, concentration in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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Eli Wachs is the co-founder+ CEO of Footprint, a company that automates onboarding for Banks and fintechs. Footprint has raised $20M from investors such as QED + Index and is used by companies such as Zillow, Yieldstreet, and Apiture. Before Footprint, Elico-founded two companies and worked at General Atlantic on their Technology team. He is a graduate of Stanford University.

Evan has covered banking and fintech for Bloomberg Law since 2018. He's also covered banking, securities, and private equity for Law360. Evan was a foreign correspondent in Cambodia, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Cameroon, writing for the Dallas Morning News and Catholic News Service.

Christian is the CEO of Bloom Credit and has spent over a decade working within venture-backed fintech providing innovative solutions to consumers and businesses in highly  regulated industries. Prior to Bloom Credit, he was most recently at LendKey Technologies, where he served as Chief Revenue Officer and was responsible for the company’s relationships with over 300 banks and credit unions.  

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Sean M. Willett joined Lincoln Bancorp’s Board of Directors in 2024. In addition to serving as a Director, Mr. Willett is President and Chief Executive Officer of Lincoln Savings Bank, a leading community-focused financial services company with $1.8billion in assets. The bank provides financial services for consumers, small business, commercial banking, and wealth management solutions tailored to our community's needs, as well as transaction and partner banking solutions tonon-bank financials and financial technology firms through its LSBX division. Prior to joining Lincoln Savings Bank, Sean was Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer of Five Star Bank, a $6.2 billion diversified financial services firm in Western New York.  Sean also spent over 15years in New York with Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan in a number of increasingly complex global roles across Operations, Finance, Risk and Legal and Compliance. Sean is the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at Trocaire College. Willett earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and holds an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and has completed extensive executive education, primarily focused on technology strategy, data, and artificial intelligence, through the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.